Recently, we hosted an event in collaboration with Buy1Give1: Unleash The HUGE Power Of Small. Thanks to everyone who came and in particular to our sponsors Wealth Efficiency, Ord Minnett, Xero, Atkinson Vinden, Value Adders, New Heights Media and Prosper Finance.

Paul Dunn was our presenter who you can read about here. His content was fantastic and we thought it’d be valuable to summarise his key points in this post for everyone to make the most of. If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner, then keep reading!

Paul’s approach is about tiny changes you can make to or implement in your business straight away, for little to no cost, that can make all the difference to profits and growth. First: some incredible stats. Did you know that in just ONE second, this occurs on the Internet?

• 7684 tweets
• 2673 Skype calls
• 61,411 Google searches
• 2,606,566 emails are sent
• 70, 014 YouTube videos are watched

If you aren’t active in the digital sphere as a business, we’re sure that’s given you something to think about.

You know the saying a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, it’s estimated that a video is worth 1.8 million. Having a good quality, two minute video on your website’s homepage increases your chance of appearing on the first page of a Google search by fifty three times. Crazy!

One of our favourite stories Paul shared with us was about a small coffee shop in Singapore he was working with. They went through 110,000 takeaway cups every quarter. So, how could they turn this expense into a massive profit driver? By selling the advertising space on the cups! The business owner simply contacted a friend in the finance industry, et viola, advertising space sold to the tune of $80,000 every quarter. So simple and so effective. Start thinking about things differently- it seems obvious now we’ve said it right?

Another area Paul covered was figuring out your WHY. Why are you in business? Why did you choose to go out on your own? Why is it important to you? Delve deeper than just “I wanted to make more money.” Once you figure this out, you become so much more attractive to potential clients. If you share core values you won’t need to do a hard sell ever again. In our case, our purpose is to make a genuine difference in the lives of our clients, their families and the broader community. We have a genuine passion in giving back to the community in a meaningful way. We can connect with other business owners who feel the same way and immediately a great relationship is formed. Values matter far more than who has the cheapest quote. You can watch a fantastic Ted Talk by Simon Simek here, on finding your business why.

Then we got to some simpler things… eye contact! Do you make a point of looking someone in the eye as you hand over your business card? Also, how do you format quotes? Try presenting them in a way that explains the service and why it’s so valuable, and then follow with the price. Now, consider how you write the number. $500 looks much better than $500.00. It can be these little things that get you over the line.

Another business example that Paul gave was of a florist. They thought outside the box and their business took off as a result. Florists get a lot of over the phone orders for deliveries. They thought, “how can we do this differently?” Rather than the usual call, then impersonal drop off, they took the experience to the next level. Once the bouquet has been created, the customer receives an email with a picture of the arrangement and a note to say which team member worked on it. Their delivery vehicle looks amazing with customized artwork all over it. They call their drivers “Deliverer of Happiness”- who doesn’t want one of those rocking up to the front door? Once the driver has delivered the flowers, he sends an email to the customer letting them know. Alternatively, they let the customer know where the flowers have been left, which is often with the neighbour. They hand out “Good Neighbour Awards” along with a thank you card and a box of chocolates. Guess who their next customer will be? The recipient of flowers gets sent flower food, a card explaining how best to keep the arrangement alive, and a thank you card the next day. How amazing is that level of customer service? All for very minimal cost to the business.

Paul shared numerous other ideas with us but the above are some highlights from the day. We’d love to give you more tips like this to help you grow your business. Interested? then feel free to get in touch with us HERE and Check our Business Packages for Startups, Entrepreneurs, Growing and Establishing Businesses HERE.